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A critical Singaporean blogger continues to suffer financial and legal pressure because of a blog post that allegedly accused the city-state's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, of corruption. The episode is part of a disturbing pattern of government legal and financial pressure on critics, but it is also a lesson in how censorship can backfire.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week,
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong demanded an apology from a critical
blogger who has allegedly accused him of corruption. Roy Ngerng Yi Ling, who is
also a healthcare worker, has frequently posted critical commentary on the
ruling People's Action Party on his blog, The Heart
Truths.

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Singapore's Internet community is in
backlash since the government announced on May 28 a new
licensing scheme for "news websites"--a term it did not define--arguing that
digital news platforms ought to be regulated on par with offline media. The
government said the scheme would take effect June 1.

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New York, May 29, 2013--Singapore's plan to impose licensing
fees on news websites will further stifle the press in the city-state's already
claustrophobic media atmosphere, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
today.

New York, January 26,
2011--In a concerning move against political commentary in advance of
upcoming general elections, the government of Singapore has ordered a
journalistic website to register as a political association, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said today. The Online Citizen says it has complied with the
order, and has announced
a January 29 "celebration" of its new status and invited the prime
minister to attend.

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New York, November 16, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Singapore High Court's sentencing of British author Alan Shadrake to prison over his book criticizing the nation's judiciary.

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Singapore
is a rich country with a surprisingly poor press freedom record—so says a
story out this week in the Columbia Journalism
Review. CPJ’s own findings
point to a series of court fines
and damages
awarded over slights to the country’s government by major international papers
like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.The ruling Lee family protects its
image fiercely, and through the court system. Justin D. Martin writes in CJR, “What Singapore’s overseers don’t
seem to grasp is that without a press free to monitor power and challenge
wrongdoing, even otherwise ‘developed’ countries suffer greatly.” Read the rest
of his story here.

June 29, 2010 12:45 PM ET

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The New York Times Co. apologized on March 24, 2010, to Singapore’s prime minister and his two predecessors for a February 15 article that described the island nation’s leaders as a political dynasty, according to international news reports. The company and the article’s author, Philip Bowring, agreed to pay damages of 160,000 Singaporean dollars (US$114,000) in addition to legal costs, the reports said.